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Topic Dog Boards / Feeding / raw feeding and vomiting
- By gsdowner Date 03.01.15 13:13 UTC
i'm feeling a little bit confused about my youngest gsd. it seems that when she eats raw meat with bones she is vomiting within minutes of finishing her meal. she was weaned on raw and was eating whole chicken wings at 9 weeks old and knows to chew properly. she is happy to eat raw mince without any effects but most things containing bone seems to set her off. last week my neighbour gave me a brace of rabbits  which didn't amount to much per dog but she threw all of it up and today she had 3 chicken wings and 250g of minced offal.

sometimes she umms and ahhhhs over eating anything that isn't de-boned or if the offal smells different but that's just her being fussy. when i get chicken carcass from the butcher, she seems to keep that down fine. on inspection, the vomit contains properly crunched up bones and no big pieces.

are the bones making her vomit or is it the richer source of protein from the rabbit and offal??
- By Wait Ok Date 03.01.15 17:29 UTC
I feed raw had have done for many years.
Your puppy has obviously been weaned onto a good food.

I would not have thought that the rabbit  was too rich but possibly the offal could be. My lot do not like too much raw liver, they sick it up if they steal too much when my back is turned.
However bones and offal are essential in an all raw diet to keep it fully ballanced. I am sure you are quiet aware of this though! 

You say that the butchers carcass are fine and stay down ok, maybe you should continue to use this type of bone for her.
Could you feed smaller amounts of the offal and mix it with another soft mince that stays down ok without upsetting things. Also try very slightly cooking the offal, just enough to change the consistancy and taste a little.

It may all depend on which animal offal she does not like (cow, pig or lamb) but offal by itself is very rich!

So many reasons and thoughts and suggestions.!!!
- By gsdowner Date 03.01.15 22:11 UTC
thanks wee man.

i do cook the offal sometimes as i add it to bone broth - which all of my dogs love. i think i may well stick to cooking it as she seems ok with that. as i said, she is fine with all mince, enjoys her marrow bones and keeps things like pork ribs, chicken carcass and venison ribs down. we currently feed 60/40 raw/kibble but the idea is to ultimately switch over 100%.  the offal i feed comes in 500g mixed tubes, all done by the butcher and contains heart, liver, lungs, kidneys etc. of beef, ox, pork, and lamb. i know not everything will suit everyone but i'd like to keep it as simple as possible so if i have to cook the offal slightly - thats ok :)
- By cracar [gb] Date 08.01.15 15:57 UTC
Just a wee thought...but is it maybe the mixing that's causing the bother?  I know when I started feeding mine raw, I was told not to feed bone for the first month to give the tum time to adjust the ph balance needed to digest solid bone.  Basically, if you are feeding kibble the tum isn't going to have the acidity to chomp up bits of bones but after a while of 'raw feeding' the tum is working 'naturally' which is when you introduce the bone.  So, if you are feeding a good percent of the diet dry kibble, is this maybe why the tum is rejecting the bone?
Just my opinion and maybe give you another idea?
- By Wait Ok Date 08.01.15 16:33 UTC Edited 08.01.15 16:42 UTC
It looks to me as though this youngster was reared and weaned onto raw meat and bones.
An excellent choice and puppies do well on it, there is no need for kibble.
There is no mention of kibble within the post!
Over more than 40 years I have always found introducing raw and bones very easy with no problems at all.
- By cracar [gb] Date 08.01.15 16:57 UTC
OP has wrote in the reply they feed 60/40 Raw/kibble ratio.  That is what I was replying too. :)
- By gsdowner Date 17.01.15 13:25 UTC
just to clarify that we don't feed raw and kibble together in the same meal but at two different times of the day if it happens to be a kibble and raw day
- By furriefriends Date 17.01.15 14:11 UTC
One school if thought against mixed feeding even at different times if day in separate meals is that a dogs stomach has to develops a ihigher concentration of acid for raw feeding. That's how its designed by nature and works well if all raw fed.if the dig is kibble fed the acid concentration is less.in mixed fed digs this is abit of a problem or could be as the stomach may not be producing enough for the rae. Kind if a confused stomach. I have no idea if this can be a problem that could develop over time but worth a thought maybe.could you just kibble freed or just rawfred for say s month and see how she goes
- By gaby [gb] Date 18.01.15 09:19 UTC
I have sneaked 25g of liver into the mince meal until the weekly target is reached. I have also made liver cake as treats and that goes down very well. Re, the bones, could it be that your GSD is eating too fast. Is it re-eaten after throwing up? I also would not feed commercial food as well as raw, even at seperate meals.
- By Wait Ok Date 18.01.15 12:52 UTC
Sorry caracar, I had not read gsdowner's  second post properly!
- By gsdowner Date 18.01.15 19:06 UTC Edited 18.01.15 19:16 UTC
Ideally we would prefer to be 100% raw feeding but I have explained in the past why we feed this way

She eats at a regular pace doesnt re-eat anything she throws up and will usually sit next to it as if to let me know that she did it and she never meant to

None of my dogs eat offal raw and walk away from it so it is either flash fried baked or added to bone broth once it has finished cooking although we have tried raw in small quantities and she has thrown it up

The only things she will throw up are game meats like rabbit and pheasant but is fine with chinese water deer or munkjack (spelling :confused:) happy to eat raw meat as mince or pieces with whole or ground bone

I may just have to resort to cooking them and removing the bones - cannot possibly think of turning free meat away and at least it will still be better than anything tinned
- By dogs a babe Date 22.01.15 09:13 UTC

> The only things she will throw up are game meats like rabbit and pheasant


These will both be quite high in bone - can you simply divide them into smaller portions and feed with a little extra meat or mince just in case it's the higher bone content that causes the reaction.  Alternatively I do remember pheasant being described as 'rich' perhaps it's just the composition of these meats that don't really agree with her.  For instance mine just will not eat raw duck or fish, no matter how small !

Do you have more than one dog?  If so it makes sense to let them eat the stuff this girl can't, or won't, and just let her eat what she can keep down.  It sounds as if she'll still be getting a good range of different meats :)
Topic Dog Boards / Feeding / raw feeding and vomiting

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